I’m pleased to say it cooled down sufficiently for us to get a good night’s sleep at De Grey. We only had a relatively short day’s travel planned for our 31st day, and were heading for Miaree Pool.

We’ve stayed at Miaree Pool before, and whilst finding a level site isn’t easy, the place is just beautiful, so worth a bit of effort to level up. We arrived just after mid-day. It was a hot 36 degrees, and there was a strong, dry wind blowing (what I term a ‘fire wind)

For those with a good off road camper trailer there’s some terrific spots that can be accessed right down on the river bank via some very rough tracks. Whilst we couldn’t get down to those gorgeous spots, we did manage to find a reasonably level spot with a gorgeous view. We had a bite of lunch, donned our swimming costumes and set out with Tills for a cooling swim.

Access to the river wasn’t easy. For those more agile there are some reasonably clear access points, but a bit of climb out using tree roots up a slippery bank is required.

I’m not agile, so we sought out the area we used last time.

Alas what was a small clear access pool has now been completely infilled with tall reeds. Trying to push thoughts from our minds of snakes that could possibly have been in the reeds, we forged a path through the watery undergrowth to the clear waters beyond. Mr Tilly absolutely loved his swim, and Paul and I enjoyed cooling off too. Returning through the reeds was no less daunting. The things one will do to cool off!

Back at the van and the wind had picked up even more. Fearful of the top vents and windows being completely blown off, we felt forced to close everything up, and we headed down to the picnic tables. There was clearly to be no respite anywhere from the wind, so we decided a change of plan was needed. It took only a few minutes to pack everything up and head about 80 kms further down the road to Fortescue Road house.

Whilst there was nothing pretty about the caravan park, we had power and could sit inside out of the hot wind with all the windows closed, and the van air conditioning on to keep us cool. It’s the only night in our entire trip that we’ve slept all night with the air conditioning on.

I’m rather sad that access to Miaree Pool has become so over grown. I thought I was going to be enjoying years of short visits to this place enjoying a peaceful swim each time. Never mind. Perhaps they’ll clear it up one day and make the parking similar to De Grey River only with a beautiful swimming hole as well – but then I guess we’d have to battle to find a spot. Never mind, I’ll enjoy last years memory of the time I swam in that gorgeous swimming hole, and I’ll remember this year as the time I risked life and limb for a cooling dip!